What will the council cover in dementia care?

We have detailed the current financial housing help that you may be eligible for below. To help
you, we have also put together two articles, one which covers the benefits that a dementia
patient may be able to claim an the other in relation to benefits paid to carers, please see our
other articles there are a number of short cuts at the bottom of this article.

Getting access to these benefits can help you pay for any modifications or just help you cover
the costs of living on your own, having to give up work or helping to give you the extra care that
you may need now or in the future.

Housing benefits and help with costs
As with many benefits the structure is complicated. New benefits have been put in place of old
ones, so names may not be familiar to you if you have claimed benefits in the past. In place of
housing benefit there is now a benefits structure called Universal Credit. It also replaces other
benefits such as child tax credits and working tax credits.

Support for mortgage interest
This is available in the form of a loan, it used to be a payment but now you have to repay it.
There is quite a long process too, waiting for the payment if you are accepted, unless you are
identified as being over retirement age, in which case the payment should be advanced to you
immediately. As it is a loan, it is only a temporary solution.

Housing benefit - now Universal Credit
Dementia patients may be eligible to receive universal credit as long as you are not receiving
unemployment benefit and the severe disability premium, or be eligible for it (even if you are not
claiming it). See this page on the Gov UK page for more information and how to apply for this
new benefit: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit

Council tax discounts
If you are diagnosed with a mental impairment and are eligible for certain income benefits or
benefits to help with your illness, then you may be eligible for a discount on your council tax up
to 100% if you live on your own. However, not everyone is eligible, it depends on the severity of
your illness and your doctor will need to provide the relevant forms to you, for you to give them
to your council. Note that you do not have to be claiming the benefits, you just need to be
eligible for them, so don’t let that put you off. We have a full article dedicated to council tax
discounts for dementia patients here.

Help with care-home costs
You may be eligible for funding from your local authority or even the NHS. However the process
if quite complicated and you need to think about what assets you currently own. We cover in
more detail how to protect assets from long term care costs, in particular if you are passing on a
home to your children. This is more of a long term process. The local authority will assess your
assets (savings and investments as well as your property) to see what you have available. You
may be required to fund some, or all of your care home costs. You will be known as a selffunder. You will still be entitled to receive the new personal independence payment which is not
means tested.

On top of this, you can claim the attendance allowance payment, if you are eligible. If you live in
Scotland, anyone over the age of 65 is entitled to free personal care, so this benefit is not
available to you.

If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you may be eligible to receive support withyour care costs from the NHS. There are two payments available. The first is called NHS
Continuing Healthcare, you can find out more about it here. This is not means tested and covers
healthcare costs required if you have long term complex needs, either at home or in a care
home. You can find out more information here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-
support-guide/money-work-and-benefits/nhs-continuing-healthcare/ The second payment is a
Funded Nursing Care payment and a flat rate which is paid direct to the care home by the NHS.
It is available if you are self funding your care, or if the local authority is paying towards it.
For more details on benefits available for dementia patients or carer, see our articles here.

Short cuts to related articles: 

Dementia patients: what benefits are available?

Carer benefits: What can you claim?

What might I be expected to pay for? How is this calculated and what is classed as an asset?